


soul

by DarknessChill



Series: touch-starved [4]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, it is not a oneshot, the boys are only sometimes solid, this was supposed to be a oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessChill/pseuds/DarknessChill
Summary: It takes a while for Willie to come looking for Alex.He’d wanted to, of course, but if the guys did cross over, he’s not sure he wants to know about it. And if they didn’t, he doesn’t want to lead Caleb right to them – though the idea that Caleb doesn’t know exactly where they are is pretty laughable, in the end, which is how he finally gets himself to peek in the windows of the Molina family garage.Caleb still owns Willie's soul, and the band is determined to fix that.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: touch-starved [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935412
Comments: 112
Kudos: 842





	1. Chapter 1

It takes a while for Willie to come looking for Alex.

He’d wanted to, of course, but if the guys _did_ cross over, he’s not sure he wants to know about it. And if they _didn’t_ , he doesn’t want to lead Caleb right to them – though the idea that Caleb doesn’t know _exactly where they are_ is pretty laughable, in the end, which is how he finally gets himself to peek in the windows of the Molina family garage.

And instead of finding Alex, he finds Julie. She’s sitting at the piano in the studio, humming and occasionally playing a few notes as she scribbles ideas in a notebook that’s open in front of her, so engrossed in it that even if she _could_ see him, she wouldn’t have.

He steps away from the garage doors, frowning to himself, but before he can teleport away, Alex appears in front of him.

“Willie,” he breathes.

“You’re here,” Willie startles. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.” Alex pauses briefly, hesitates, before adding, “I’ve been looking for you, haven’t been able to find you anywhere.”

Willie manages what he hopes looks like a nonchalant shrug. “Sorry – I wasn’t trying to avoid you. Haven’t been out much.”

Alex frowns, but changes the subject. “Are you… able to be away for a bit?”

Willie nods. “Caleb’s been distracted lately – I have some time.”

Alex nods, shifting a little.

“So you’re okay?” Willie presses lightly. “You were in really rough shape last time I saw you – did the show at the Orpheum not work—”

Alex cuts him off. “We’re all fine,” he promises. “And we played the show – thank you again, by the way – but it must not have been our unfinished business after all, because we’re still here. I’m not 100% certain _why_ we’re fine, but we are, and…” he trails off, shrugging.

Willie swallows around the lump in his throat, nodding and playing idly with the strap on his helmet.

“Are _you_ okay?” Alex asks, hesitating. “Did you get in trouble with Caleb for helping us – did he find out?”

“He knows.” Willie winces. “But I’m fine, seriously. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

Alex frowns. “Willie—”

“Really, Alex,” Willie cuts him off. “It’s cool – I’m good.”

Alex exhales, and Willie can see the wheels turning in his head, can see him overthinking all of the possibilities. He doesn’t speak up.

After a beat of silence, Alex shifts on his feet, finally speaking up, thankfully, with a changed subject. "Do you… want to meet Julie?" He gestures towards the garage doors behind them. "You've met the rest of the band."

Willie glances back over at the doors, shaking his head. "She won't be able to see me.”

"She'll still be happy to meet you," Alex assures him. "And _you_ can see her."

Willie hesitates, but Alex shoots him a small, reassuring smile and he sighs, nodding. "Alright, sure, bring on the lifer."

Alex’s smile seems a bit more genuine as he gestures for Willie to follow him, walking straight through the garage doors with a quick, "Hey Julie."

Julie looks up from her notebook, grinning over at him. "Hey, Alex – I was wondering where you guys were."

Alex nods, glancing behind him to make sure Willie’s followed him in. "I was out wandering. Reggie's with your dad, I think, and I'm not sure where Luke is, actually." He pauses briefly. "Hey, so, you remember my friend Willie, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Julie sits up, shutting her notebook so that Alex has her full attention. "You also mentioned you hadn't seen him since the Orpheum – is he okay?"

Willie watches the concern cross Julie's face and frowns, glancing over at Alex to see him looking over at him. "Yeah, he's okay – at least as far as he's told me," and that look is more pointed, but Willie does his best to ignore it. "He's actually here right now."

Julie stands up, startled. "Why didn't you say something before? Hi, Willie."

Willie waves, well aware that Julie has no idea where he is.

"He says hi," Alex fills her in, gesturing her over and pointing her in Willie's direction so she can wave.

"Nice to meet you, finally," she says, beaming at him. "And now I understand how Flynn feels whenever she comes over to hang out."

Alex chuckles a bit at that, and Julie beams. "I can go inside so you guys can chat, if you want?" she asks Alex, glancing over to where Willie is standing again as well.

"No, we don't mean to kick you out." Alex shakes his head. "As long as you're okay with holding a weird one-way conversation."

Julie shrugs. "I mean, I translate for you guys and Flynn all the time, so I'm used to it – it’ll just be strange not being the translator."

"She's taking this all _really_ well," Willie comments, watching her.

Alex glances over at him. "I mean, yeah – this is hardly the weirdest thing that's happened to her."

Julie grins again at that, guessing the conversation topic. "No, that’s definitely you three appearing out of thin air, screaming your heads off."

Alex smiles, shoving her a little without really thinking about it, and she grins in realization, shifting closer to his side and linking arms with him casually.

Wait.

Willie blinks, looking from their now linked arms – a ghost and a lifer – up to their faces. "Alex, are you... solid?"

Alex glances over at Julie, holding onto his arm, and offers Willie a shrug. "Only to Julie – and randomly. I guess we didn't really get to that part of the explanation."

"No, you _definitely_ left that out," Willie mumbles, tearing his eyes from the lifer at Alex's side.

Julie leans her head on Alex’s shoulder, and after a few seconds of silence, glances up at him. “I’m going to leave you two to talk.”

“You don’t have to do that—”

Julie cuts Alex off, shaking her head and squeezing his arm once more before letting go and backing towards the doors. “I know you well enough to know you two need some time. I’ll see you later.” Turning to Willie, she adds, “And I know I can’t _see_ you, but I hope you come by again soon.”

With that, she smiles once more and slips out of the garage before either of them can protest, leaving Willie and Alex standing across from each other, Alex shifting slightly.

Finally, after another beat of silence, Alex speaks up. "Will you tell me what Caleb did to you?"

Willie swallows. "Alex, I'm really fine."

"What did he do?" Alex insists, presses. "He owns your soul and you betrayed him to help us get away."

"I know what I did," Willie mumbles, sighing. "I'm still here, aren't I? He didn't destroy me."

" _Willie_ ," Alex steps forward, gripping his shoulders. " _What_ did he do?"

Silently, Willie lifts his wrist, where a familiar looking purple stamp is inked into the skin.

Alex stares at it, eyes flicking up to Willie's and then back down to the stamp. "I don't – I don't understand, he already _has_ your soul."

"Yeah, think of it like a shock collar," Willie sighs. "If I'm away for too long, or he catches me doing something, or he's having a bad day – jolt."

"You're not his pet!" Alex protests.

"Aren't we all?" Willie mutters, bitterly.

"Willie..." Alex squeezes his shoulders again, trailing off into silence for a moment before he speaks up again. "Can I ask... why did you join him in the first place?"

Willie looks up. "Same reason you almost did," he answers honestly. "He offered me what I wanted – the chance to skate anywhere for the rest of eternity."

"In exchange for your soul?" Alex asks.

"He doesn't exactly pitch it that way," Willie shakes his head. "He never mentioned souls to you, did he?"

Alex frowns. "Yeah, I guess not."

"It's an enticing offer when you don't know what you're giving up," Willie finally says, shrugging a little. "If you'd met him before you'd met Julie, do you really think you would have walked away?"

Alex swallows. "No, we probably wouldn't have."

"He gives you what you want and he doesn't tell you what you're giving up," Willie says finally, shifting out of Alex's grip and wrapping his arms around himself. "I played right into his hands."

"Willie—”

The atmosphere in the studio is suddenly stifling, and Willie steps away from Alex again, shaking his head.

Alex stills, dropping his hands and taking a step backward. “Sorry, I—” he cuts off. “I’ll back off, just… don’t go, please.”

“I can’t stay,” Willie mumbles, sighing and forcing himself to look up at Alex. “He’ll notice I’m gone eventually, and he’s going to wonder where I ran off to.”

“We can figure this out,” Alex insists desperately, flinching like he’s resisting the urge to take a step closer. “We can figure out a way to free you from him.”

“There’s nothing to figure _out_ , Alex. He _owns my soul_ ,” Willie reminds him, growling.

Alex deflates a little. “Then…” he hesitates. “Willie, can you promise me that if you ever feel unsafe there – not that you’re ever _safe_ there, but… if you feel more unsafe than usual – that you’ll come here? Please.”

Willie looks away, stiffening. “Alex…”

“Willie, _please_.”

Willie swallows, looking up again into Alex’s pleading eyes, and shuts his own, sighing softly. “Yeah, okay,” he says, looking over at Alex again. “If it gets that bad I’ll come here.”

Alex takes a cautious step forward, and then another when Willie doesn’t move, taking Willie’s hands in his and squeezing. “Thank you. We’ll figure this out.”

There’s nothing _to_ figure out, Willie wants to repeat, but instead he just nods. “I… need to get going. Caleb’s distracted, but he’ll still notice if I’m gone for much longer.”

Alex sighs, but nods, squeezing Willie’s hands again, and Willie offers a tiny smile. “I’ll see you soon,” he promises.

And then he’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a quick little oneshot and instead I've been agonizing over it for days. Now it's a three-chapter fic. I can't make any promises about when the next part will be out, but I do promise I'll work as fast as I can? I have other oneshots that are closer to completion, though, so you might see those first.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Willie disappears from the studio, Alex does too, appearing with only a slight stumble in Julie’s bedroom. She startles, looking up from her textbook, and a smile starts on her face, but it falls as soon as she catches sight of his frown.

“Alex?” she scrambles up, hovering near him. “Are you okay? Did Willie leave?”

“I’m fine,” Alex manages, feeling panic rising in his chest but beating it back – he’ll deal with that later. “I need your help.”

“Of course, anything,” Julie says without hesitating. “What do you need?”

*

It doesn’t take a genius to tell when something’s bothering Julie, and Flynn realizes something’s up about six seconds after she walks up to her locker the next morning.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Flynn presses as Julie shuts her locker, staring her friend down.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Julie says, but Flynn just raises an eyebrow, and Julie sighs, glancing up and down the hallway. “It’s – have I told you about Willie?”

“Alex’s not-yet-boyfriend?” Flynn asks. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned him – what about him?”

“I met him yesterday – or well,” she pauses. “You know.” At Flynn’s nod, she continues. “Caleb’s had him on a really short leash since the guys got away from him, and Alex found out yesterday that short leash includes a stamp like what was destroying the guys.”

Flynn blinks, startled. “Wait, Caleb’s destroying him?”

“I don’t know,” Julie groans. “He already owns Willie’s soul, though, so it’s not like with the guys where he’s trying to force him to join up. And we need to get him out somehow, but none of us have any idea _how_. We don’t know enough about Caleb’s powers or the club, and it’s not like we can send someone in to find out more.”

Flynn grimaces, reaching over and rubbing Julie’s back lightly.

“I’m not letting the boys go back there, since there’s absolutely no way that Caleb will let them leave again, and it’s not like you or I could walk in.” Julie sighs, shaking her head.

“We’ll figure this out, Jules,” Flynn assures her. “I’ll do some thinking too. I might not be the ghost expert you are, but let me see what I can dig up.”

Julie shoots Flynn a grateful smile and Flynn grins in response, waving as she ducks off to her first class – where she can hopefully, conveniently, hide out in the back and keep her teacher from seeing her on her phone.

*

Alex leaves the house not too long after Julie heads to school. His thoughts are circling, constantly swinging back around to how much danger Willie is in, and the pit of dread that’s growing in his stomach is making it hard to concentrate on anything else – so he goes out, walks down paths he knows he’s seen Willie on before, hoping he finds Willie on one of them.

And he does, but he’s _walking_.

"Willie!"

Willie turns, startled, but he relaxes when his eyes fall on Alex. "Oh – hey."

"Hey," Alex nods, running up to his side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Willie insists, and when Alex shoots him a disbelieving look, he clarifies, "He didn't find out about yesterday."

Relief floods Alex and he nods, before prodding lightly, "Where's your skateboard? I don't think I've seen you down here without it before."

Willie's face falls the tiniest bit and Alex flinches. "Wait – did Caleb—"

Willie cuts him off. "It's fine."

"Willie—"

"I'll earn it back eventually," Willie insists. "He gets like this sometimes – and I screwed him over, so honestly, a stamp and no skateboard might be the best I could have hoped for."

Alex deflates a little. "I'm sorry – this is..."

"Hey," Willie cuts in, shifting closer and grabbing Alex's hand, squeezing. "Alex, I would do all of it again if it meant keeping you and your friends safe. I made my choice and it is _not_ your fault."

Alex squeezes his hand back. "We have to get you out of there."

Willie backpedals at that. "Alex, it's not that simple."

"I know that," Alex sighs. "Look – can you try and come by the studio later today, after Julie gets out of school?"

Willie frowns. "I can... try. Why?"

"Just let us _try_ and see if we can get you out. I promise we won't be reckless," Alex says. "But we're not going to get anywhere without more information on Caleb and you're the best source we have."

When Willie takes a step back like he's about to teleport away, Alex squeezes his hand, refusing to let go. "Willie, please. You took a huge risk for us, and you're _paying_ for it. Let us do this for you."

Willie looks down at their joined hands and sighs. "Alright – okay. I'll come by the studio."

"Thank you," Alex breathes, squeezing his hand again.

Willie just nods. "Do you... have some time, or do you need to be somewhere?"

"I have time," Alex answers, a bit too quickly.

Willie smiles a little at that, and Alex feels relief flooding him as Willie relaxes. "Come on, I want to show you something," Willie says, tugging him forward but not letting go of his hand, and Alex smiles, quickening his gait to catch up.

He’d follow this boy anywhere.

*

Julie manages to make it to lunch – barely – without overthinking things, but as soon as the bell rings and she’s faced with the thought of sitting in the cafeteria with the rest of the school, everything comes rushing back. She pushes down the hallway to the music room instead, sitting down on the piano bench and running her fingers carefully across the keys.

"Hey, so I've been doing some research," Flynn slides onto the piano bench next to her, knocking her shoulder into her best friend's lightly. Julie’s fingers lift off the keys and she glances over at her friend questioningly.

"Research on...?" she presses.

"Caleb Covington," Flynn answers, handing her phone over, article open in the browser. "Turns out, he was some hotshot magician in the 1920s that messed up a trick and got himself killed. He was no Houdini, but apparently he was pretty good."

"I'm sure calling him 'no Houdini' will go over well," Julie mumbles, scrolling through the article Flynn pulled up. "Okay, so we know that he's not only more powerful than us, but also he's had 100 years to perfect his power."

Flynn makes a face. "See, this is why you need me – you’re so pessimistic."

Julie raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, what's the _optimistic_ response to five teenagers going up against a 100-year-old ghost?"

"The way he _died_ , Julie," Flynn insists. "He got too prideful and it got him killed. We can't take him on directly, I agree. We have to use his weakness – his _pride_ – against him!"

"And how do we do that?" Julie asks.

Flynn's grin falters a bit. "Well, I haven't gotten that far yet, but we'll sort out something."

Julie chuckles a tiny bit at that, leaning her head on Flynn's shoulder. "This is a mess. We have to help Willie, but we're _so_ out of our depth here."

"We'll figure it out," Flynn promises, wrapping an arm around Julie and squeezing her.

*

Luke is deep in melodies and lyrics when he feels the couch sink next to him, and he glances over to see Julie sitting right up against his intangible side, frowning at the floor.

"Julie?" he presses lightly, shutting his notebook.

"Sorry," she says, shaking her head. "Just out of it. This whole situation..."

"Yeah." Luke nods. "I know what you mean."

Julie offers him a tiny smile, and he shifts, putting his notebook down and resting an arm on the back of the couch behind her since he can't wrap it around her right now. "School go okay?" he asks carefully.

"I think I absorbed about 5% of what my teachers talked about," Julie sighs. "I couldn't keep my mind off of trying to get Willie out of the club. I'm pretty sure Flynn spent the entire day on her phone doing research on Caleb. She'll be here in a few minutes."

Luke nods. "Yeah, we were all in the same boat earlier. Alex went out to find Willie and hasn't come back yet – which I think is a good sign – and Reggie couldn't think in circles anymore so he went inside."

"And you were writing?" Julie glances at his notebook.

"It's just a bunch of disconnected lyrics right now," Luke answers, shaking his head.

"Let me see, maybe I can help – and I could use the distraction." She reaches over him to grab the notebook, but is interrupted by the garage door opening again and Flynn entering, Reggie on her heels.

"Saw her in the kitchen and figured if Flynn was here, we were meeting up," Reggie explains, taking the empty seat next to Julie as Flynn sinks into a chair.

"Alright, how many ghosts in the room?" Flynn asks, looking around.

"Two." Julie chuckles, as Luke lifts his pen in a sort of hello. "Luke and Reggie are here – we’re waiting on Alex."

"And hopefully Willie, if Alex was able to find him," Reggie pipes in.

"And hopefully Willie," Julie repeats for Flynn.

Flynn nods sinking back into her chair as Alex and Willie appear in the room together.

"Sorry, were you waiting on us?" Alex asks, glancing around.

"Only for a sec," Reggie promises.

Alex smiles, "Willie's with me, by the way," he tells Julie, sitting down on the piano bench and tugging Willie down to sit next to him.

"Hi Willie," Julie greets.

"Oh, more ghosts," Flynn sits up.

"Oh right." Julie smiles. "Willie, this is Flynn – Flynn, Willie and Alex are sitting on the piano bench."

Flynn waves, and Willie just chuckles. "How many lifers know about you, exactly?" he asks Alex.

"Besides all of the lifers that see us perform?" Alex asks teasingly. "Four."

Luke smiles at the tone in his voice – Alex seems significantly more relaxed than when he'd left that morning. It's relieving to see the smile back on his face – and judging by the way that Julie has sunk back into the couch next to him, he can tell she's relieved as well.

“Good day?” he teases Alex lightly, grinning when Alex's smile widens.

“Yeah – Willie, showed me his favorite sights down by the beach, and—” he cuts off sharply. “And that’s not why we’re here.” He clears his throat, flushing a little as he leans back, trying to look nonchalant.

Luke laughs a little, settling his arm over Julie's shoulders as he relaxes. Julie smiles and leans into his side - and then startles.

"Oh, hey," she says, kicking Reggie's ankle lightly to see if he's solid as well, and then tugging him closer to her other side. "Flynn, can you—"

"Yep, hey boys," Flynn greets, grinning.

"I guess I won't have to translate for you the entire time after all," Julie grins, relaxing into Luke's side. "Should we get started? Alex, can you translate for Willie for us?"

"No problem," Alex nods, smiling at her. "Alright – so Willie's agreed to at least hear us out."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Willie adds. Alex doesn't bother passing that on to the girls.

"I was telling Luke earlier, Flynn's been doing research on Caleb all day," Julie says. "He was a magician who died in the 1920s because he messed up a trick, right?" she glances over at her friend.

"That’s what I found, yeah.” Flynn nods. “I tried searching for information on the Hollywood Ghost Club, but all I found was an old rumors forum that, as far as I could tell, was completely wrong." Flynn makes a face. "Does he actually stop lifers from talking about it, or do they just not bother?"

Willie frowns at that. "I mean, nothing stopped me from telling you guys about it," he glances at Alex. "But it could be different with the lifers he owns."

"They did all look older, though," Luke speaks up once Alex has relayed that to Julie and Flynn. "I know I'm missing 25 years of technology, but my first thought after leaving a place like that would not be a ‘rumor forum’ – whatever that is."

"Good point," Willie comments. "And the crowd he caters to probably doesn’t spend much time on Twitter."

Alex starts to repeat the sentence, but pauses midway through. "What the heck is Twitter?"

Julie laughs. "Don't worry about it," she assures. "Okay, so then Willie – since we can't find anything out about the club online, what can _you_ tell us about it?"

Willie shifts so he's sitting forward a little. "I'm not sure how much you guys have already told her," he glances at Alex, "But it's essentially like a cabaret? He puts on shows every night that lifers with memberships can attend, giving them a peek into the afterlife, or whatever. And the staff are all ghosts whose souls he owns.” He pauses to let Alex translate, before continuing, “The place is sealed off – if you're a lifer, you can only enter the club if you have a membership or if Caleb's sent you an invitation. Ghosts can only enter if they’re brought in by another ghost. And I'm not bringing you guys in again."

"Yeah, none of you are going anywhere near that club," Julie agrees. "Okay, so if _getting_ into the club isn't an option..." she trails off suddenly, frowning.

"That's your thinking face," Flynn says, sitting up. "You have an idea."

"I have half of an idea," Julie corrects, glancing back over at where she knows Willie is sitting. "You said lifers Caleb is interested in can get in, right? What sort of lifers is Caleb interested in?"

Willie glances over. "Uhh – the rich and famous, mostly. People with money or talent that he can use once they die." He pauses long enough for Alex to relay this to Julie. "Why?"

Julie sits up, out of Luke’s grip. “Rich and famous – there’s one person we know that fits that bill pretty exactly,” She looks over at Flynn, whose eyes widen. “What if we baited him?”

Luke stiffens, sitting up as well. "You're not—"

Julie cuts him off. "We have no way in, and Willie needs all the brownie points he can earn right now. Offering _Trevor Wilson_ to Caleb is a pretty good way to earn his favor, and if he agrees to help us, it gets us eyes in the club – information we don’t have."

"Absolutely not," Luke shakes his head. "We're not asking him for help, Julie – and even if we were still friends with him, we wouldn't send him into that sort of danger."

"Would he be in danger?" Julie asks, turning back to Willie. "Does Caleb require a lifer to sell their soul to even enter the place, or does he have to recruit them first?"

"He has to recruit them first," Willie says, frowning. "He sends them an invite, usually, if they're not friends with a lifer that's already a member, and lets them get a feel for the place. Not everyone signs up on the first trip, but he usually hooks them by the second."

"So it wouldn't be unreasonable for Trevor to get invited, go in and scope the place out, and leave without having to sign his soul over?" Julie asks once Alex has reluctantly relayed Willie's words.

"Not unreasonable, no…” Willie says hesitantly.

"We're not doing this!" Luke cuts in before Alex can pass that on. "Julie, it's too risky!"

"Do you have another plan?" Julie rounds on him. "This is the _first_ lead we have, we have to _try_."

Flynn glances between them. "We don't even know if Trevor will agree – isn’t it worth at least asking?"

"No!" Luke protests, but Julie ignores him.

“If you have another plan, I’d love to hear it, but this is the first potential option we’ve come up with _all night_ ,” she insists. “Flynn, are you free after school tomorrow? We can go by while Carrie’s at practice, see if he’s home.”

“Yeah.” Flynn nods. “That sounds good.”

“Julie—” Luke tries.

“If you have another plan I’d love to hear it,” Julie repeats, staring him down.

Luke stares back, but nothing comes to him, and he curses under his breath as he teleports away instead of dealing with the look she’s giving him.

*

Reggie finds Luke by the beach about an hour after his dramatic exit and plops down silently next to him in the sand.

“What?” Luke finally asks after a few moments of tense silence. “You can’t _possibly_ think this is a good idea.”

Reggie sighs, shrugging. “I don’t think it’s a _bad_ idea.”

“We can’t _trust_ him, Reg,” Luke snaps.

“I just think you need to hear Julie out,” Reggie says before Luke can escalate further. “She and Flynn have a plan – and it sounds like it might work. Willie looked like he was almost starting to believe we weren’t crazy to try this.”

Luke growls out something unintelligible.

“Luke, is this really just about hating Bobby?” Reggie presses. “Because this looks a little more like overprotective Luke than angry Luke.”

Luke groans again, burying his head in his hands. “Caleb _played_ us, Reggie. He knew _exactly_ what we wanted and he played us like fiddles and the only reason we’re still around right now is because Julie has some kind of magic that saved us.”

Reggie frowns, pursing his lips. “Yeah, but we also went in blind. We had no idea what to expect.”

“And we almost got _destroyed_. What happens if he plays to all of Bobby’s weaknesses – all of Bobby’s wants and desires – and Bobby decides that he wants whatever Caleb’s selling more than he wants to help us?” Luke asks. “We’re _screwed_ if that happens – and so is _he_.”

Reggie sighs. “Yeah, it’s a risk… but if we don’t do this, aren’t we screwed for sure?” he asks, nudging Luke lightly. “We _don’t_ have another plan.”

“We’ll _think_ of something,” he insists, almost desperate.

“You need to talk to Julie,” Reggie says. “I’m telling you – she’s thought this through. Just _talk_ to her.”

Luke sighs, falling silent for a moment before running a hand through his hair. “Yeah… I should apologize anyway.”

“Yeah, no more snapping at the literal nicest girl in the world, okay?” Reggie teases, knocking his shoulder into Luke’s.

That coaxes an almost-smile out of Luke, and Reggie grins. “Come on, moping on the beach is my thing,” he says, standing up and offering Luke a hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

*

Luke wants to stall, to not immediately go running to Julie’s room, but he makes it all of five minutes once he and Reggie have teleported back to the house before a pointed glance from Alex makes him vanish and reappear outside of her door.

Hesitating, he knocks lightly, and a moment later, hears her call out, “Yeah?”

"Hey," Luke says, poking his head through the shut door. "Can we talk?"

"Talk, or shout some more?" Julie asks, frowning.

"Talk," Luke promises. "I'm sorry I yelled."

Julie nods at him, and he slips through the door, walking over to the bed as she shuts her Calculus textbook and puts it to the side. "I'm sorry I yelled too. This whole situation sucks."

Luke nods in agreement, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"I hate the idea of sending anyone into the club," he says finally. "Bobby did a lot of things wrong but that doesn't mean he deserves to have his soul owned by Caleb any more than Willie does."

"If we do this right, he'll be fine," Julie insists. "This only works if he's a willing participant in the plan, and he'll be going in with much more knowledge than any of the lifers Caleb is usually conning - and as far as Caleb knows, there's no connection between Trevor Wilson and Sunset Curve, so he won't see it coming."

Luke hesitates, so Julie continues, "If we do nothing, then Caleb could decide one day that he's tired of Willie and just get rid of him. We can't risk that."

"Can we _trust_ Bobby, though?" Luke asks. "We barely know him anymore."

"Do you trust _me_?" Julie asks.

"Of _course_ I do," he breathes.

Julie smiles. "You barely know Bobby, sure - but _I_ know Trevor Wilson."

Luke swallows, but nods. "Why are you so sure this’ll work? What happens if Caleb… what happens if Caleb offers him something he can’t turn down?”

Julie shakes her head. “There’s nothing Caleb can offer Trevor that would make him join that club.”

“You sure seem confident.” Luke frowns. “What do you know that I don’t?”

“I know how much Trevor loves his daughter,” Julie answers. “It doesn’t matter what Caleb offers him – it won’t be Carrie. And Trevor won’t give in to anything that’ll take him away from her. He’s made some awful decisions in his life – stealing your music was one of them – but he _loves_ his daughter.”

Somehow, despite how different his old ex-bandmate has seemed since Luke came back as a ghost, that sentence – that thought that Bobby would never do anything that would take him away from his daughter – sounds _so much_ like the Bobby he knew in 1995 that it almost _hurts_.

And he trusts Julie. No matter what, he trusts Julie.

“Okay. Alright. Let’s talk to him,” Luke acquiesces. “Well – _you_ talk to him. But… do you mind if I tag along?”

Julie beams. "Flynn and I are going tomorrow after school. You remember where he lives?”

Luke nods. “Yeah. I’ll see you there at 3:30?” he asks, and when Julie nods, he smiles a little, standing up to leave her to her homework.

“Hey, Luke?” Julie calls after him, and he glances back. “Thank you for trusting me.”

Luke smiles at that, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I’m stubborn.”

Julie shrugs a little, biting her lip. “I like that you’re stubborn,” she assures him, and his smile widens a bit as he slips through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be making a mistake by posting this today instead of waiting until I made progress on the next chapter, because I'm not entirely sure how that's going to go, but we're here now and we'll make it through it. 
> 
> Also yes, the chapter number did grow - this chapter ended up blossoming into a lot more than I was expecting, and I had to cut it in two.


	3. Chapter 3

The last time Julie was at Trevor Wilson’s house, she was looking for three very angry ghosts who had just found out someone they thought was their friend had stolen their music.

This time feels very different.

Luke is waiting for them by the front door, leg bouncing nervously, and greets them with a quick, “He got home about ten minutes ago.”

“Perfect,” Julie nods, offering him what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “Luke says he’s home,” she tells Flynn, reaching into her backpack to pull out the Sunset Curve demo.

“Do you know how you’re going to approach this?” Flynn asks, glancing at the CD and then back up at Julie, who takes a deep breath.

“Not really,” she admits. “But I’ll figure it out. This is our only shot.” With that, she rings the doorbell before she can have second thoughts.

It takes a minute, but eventually the door swings open to reveal a very surprised Trevor Wilson.

“Julie, Flynn,” he says, frowning a little. “Carrie’s not home—”

Julie cuts him off. “We’re here to see you,” she says quickly, readjusting her grip on the CD as she lifts it into his sight. “We need to talk to you about your old band.”

*

Trevor knows what's coming as soon as he sees Julie and Flynn at the door. As soon as he catches sight of that little black CD case in Julie's hands, he knows he's not going to like the conversation that's coming.

But he also knows it's overdue.

He's been avoiding it since getting home from the Orpheum after watching Julie perform, after watching her sing her heart out on a stage few people ever got the chance to grace, with three people who died the night they should have been performing there. He'd gone home that night with his hands still shaking and memories he'd tried so hard to forget flooding his mind.

He remembers a lot of things in the days following that performance.

He remembers the rush of playing the soundcheck on that stage, how magical it felt even without an audience filling the room.

He remembers the sound of the stage doors closing behind his best friends as they left to get pre-show food.

He remembers the sound of the ambulance outside the theater and Rose's frown and mumbled, "That's awfully close."

He remembers someone bursting through that same stage door and telling him his friends were being taken to the hospital.

He remembers making it there and finding out they hadn't.

He leads a quiet Julie and Flynn into the living room, sits down in one of the chairs as they settle onto the couch, and speaks before Julie has a chance to. "I saw your performance at the Orpheum."

Julie freezes, eyes widening as she glances at Flynn. "You – you did?"

Trevor nods, offering a small smile. "Yeah – you were fantastic. I'm really glad you started performing again." He knows he's stalling, but he can't stop his smile from widening a little as Julie flushes, clearly embarrassed.

She composes herself quickly, though, asking, "If you saw the performance then you must have seen the rest of the band?"

Trevor's smile falls, and he nods. "And I'm guessing that's what you're here to talk to me about," he says, eyes flicking to the CD case in Julie's hands and then back up to her.

Julie bites her lip, nodding. "And to ask for your help," she says, glancing briefly at the empty space on the couch next to her, and then back over to Trevor. "Do you believe in ghosts?" she asks, and without waiting for Trevor to answer, she launches into the story.

The years following the three funerals are blurry, but it isn't like he woke up one morning realizing he'd stolen Luke's songs. He didn't record them in some sort of fugue state brought on by grief – that was a decision he'd made, desperate and hopeful that performing those songs would bring back some of the magic he'd felt on stage with Sunset Curve. (It hadn't.)

He made the choice to record those songs, and he made the choice to leave Luke's name out of the credits. He made the choice to change his name in some futile effort to pretend he was a fully functional adult and not the remnants of one left behind after his three closest friends all died at once.

And now Julie Molina is sitting across from him, telling him how those same three dead friends had appeared, screaming, in her garage. He can tell she's skimming past some of the details – and he can't blame her for that – but the overall story is clear. His three teenage best friends had come back as ghosts.

"And we need your help to save another friend of ours," Julie says a few minutes later, finishing off her story. "You’re the only chance we have, and to be frank, Trevor," Julie says with determination in her voice, picking the CD back up to put it away. "You owe them."

And that's the truth of it, isn't it? He messed up. He knew he was messing up when he did it but he was desperate and – and the excuses don't _matter_ , because he did it, and it's done now. There's nothing he can do to take it back, to make it better.

That's what he told himself for _years_ – that the mistake was made and there was nothing he could do except move forward and hope he was honoring his friends in some screwed up way.

After Carrie was born and the world started looking a little more clear, after years of therapy and the realization that hey, your mental health is actually important, and maybe losing your three best friends on what was supposed to be the greatest night of your lives had messed you up a bit, he'd considered calling a reporter friend and telling her everything. Would it ruin his career? Oh, absolutely. But did it matter?

And then he'd look at the wide brown eyes of his six-year-old daughter, pleading for another story before bedtime, and he'd reconsider – because she was _alive_ and _important_ , and if continuing the lie would keep her safe from the media outlash, then he would.

So, yeah – he messed up, and he continued to mess up, and at this point there was really nothing he could do to fix it.

Except, maybe, whatever Julie needs him to do.

He looks back up at her, ready to ask for more details, and his eyes fall on Luke instead.

He's sitting next to Julie, staring at him, face a mix of fear, anger, and worry, eyes focused the same way they always were when the two of them would argue as teenagers – which happened more than either of them wanted to admit. But at the end of the day they knew they had each other’s backs – until Luke got fatal food poisoning and Trevor screwed up honoring him properly. Until Luke, Reggie, and Alex died and something in Trevor shattered.

*

Luke hasn’t heard much of the conversation between Julie and Bobby. Instead he’s taken to watching his old, ex-friend’s reaction to the story – and finds a distinct lack of surprise in his face. Pain, yes – which stirs up emotions Luke doesn’t even want to address – but not surprise.

But then his eyes land _directly_ on Luke himself.

Julie follows his gaze and realizes the same thing, reaching over and taking Luke's hand in hers to confirm – yes. Bobby can see him.

He relaxes the tiniest bit, squeezing Julie’s hand and speaking for the first time since they’d entered the house. "Hey Bobby.”

"Luke," Bobby breathes.

Julie glances between the two of them and swallows, squeezing Luke’s hand again. “Want us to let you two talk?” she asks him quietly.

Luke tears his eyes off of Bobby and looks over at Julie, who smiles softly.

“We’ll be right in the next room,” Julie murmurs to him, reading the answer in his face and squeezing his hand. “Just yell for me if you vanish and I’ll come back and translate.”

Luke hesitates, doesn’t want to let go of Julie’s hand, but releases his grip anyway, nodding at her. She beams over at him, shoots Bobby a less enthusiastic smile, and practically drags Flynn out of the room, leaving the two ex-friends alone.

Bobby opens his mouth to speak, but Luke cuts in before he has a chance. “Don’t.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Don’t even think about apologizing because that doesn’t – won’t – change anything,” Luke growls. “ _Why_ would you do that to us?” He gestures wildly in the direction of the platinum records hanging on the wall, and Bobby flinches.

“Because losing all three of you fucked me up and it took me a long time to realize that,” he finally says, shutting his eyes. “And it’s not an excuse – it’s not… forgivable. I’m not asking you to even consider it.” He glances up at Luke. “But it is the truth. Something _broke_ that day, and I’m not even sure it’s fully repaired now.”

Luke curses under his breath. “Do you want me to feel _sorry_ for you?” he snaps. “You _knew_ what those songs meant to me, you knew what—” he cuts himself off, cursing again. “We literally _died_ , Bobby, and we came back to find out you took _everything_ we left behind and _erased_ us from it.”

“I know.” Bobby shakes his head. “I’m not trying to make excuses, Luke – I know I messed up, and I know you’re pissed. You have every reason to be. I regret all of it.”

“If you _regret_ it so much, then why didn’t you ever come clean?” Luke demands. “Why leave those hanging on the wall, why continue on like—” he cuts off, swallowing.

“Carrie,” Bobby answers without hesitating, and Luke curses again – because _of course_ the answer is his daughter. “If I come clean, it’ll hurt her a lot more than it’ll hurt me.”

Luke _wants_ to be angry. He wants to demand that Bobby call a reporter right now, issue a statement, tell them that all of the music was stolen and that he’s a good for nothing thief. He wants to yell at Bobby until he blows his voice out.

But he can see in Bobby’s face that he’s telling the truth. That the reason he’s kept quiet all these years, despite actually regretting his choices, is because of his daughter. And it pisses him off because it’s _exactly_ the sort of thing he once thought Bobby would have done for the three of them. It’s _exactly_ the sort of thing Bobby _had_ done for each of them before – until he didn’t. Until he stole all of the music and ran off with the glory and gave them no credit, until he let them die nameless.

“Look,” Bobby cuts through Luke’s circling thoughts. “I can’t make up for it. And I won’t come clean and put Carrie through that. But if I can help with whatever it is you and Julie need, then I will.”

“It’s dangerous,” Luke warns. “You really willing to risk your neck for us?” He knows it’s underhanded – to jab at what he knows is a weak point in Bobby’s armor – but Bobby doesn’t even flinch.

“Seems like the least I can do,” he answers.

Luke growls. “I just – wish I could _punch_ you.” He clenches his hands at his side.

Bobby laughs humorlessly. “Yeah, I deserve that.”

“You deserve a _lot_ worse than a ghost punch,” Luke retorts, shaking his head. “Julie!” he calls before he can second guess himself.

She pokes her head out of the next room. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Luke says, swallowing. “Will you punch Trevor Wilson for me?”

She smiles a little at that. “Absolutely not,” she says, “but I’ll take that as you two being done shouting at each other.” She and Flynn walk back out, Flynn shooting him a thumbs up as she plops back down in her abandoned seat, and Julie sitting down next to him, tugging his clenched hand into her lap and carefully unfurling it to entwine their fingers and squeeze.

“You okay?” she asks softly, squeezing his hand lightly.

Luke glances down at their linked hands and lets his other hand relax, nodding at her. “Yeah – all good. Bobby said he’d help, and I never actually got to hear the rest of the plan yesterday.”

“Oh, right,” Flynn realizes. “You left before—” She cuts herself off. “Well, then we can just fill both of you in.”

Julie nods in agreement. “You caught up with the story up until now?” she asks Bobby carefully. “Because it’s about to get a lot weirder.”

Bobby glances over at Luke, and then nods back in Julie’s direction. “Bring it on.”

Julie smiles a little again. There’s this really powerful ghost, Caleb Covington? He runs this club, and he owns the souls of all the ghosts that work there. He has a friend of ours. We need your help setting him free.”

*

“Are you okay?” Julie asks Luke later that evening, after they’ve left Bobby’s house and made it back to hers, after they’ve filled in Alex and Reggie, and the two of them have teleported off to try and find Willie. “And don’t lie to me, I know that must have been hard.”

Luke shakes his head. “Honestly, it… I thought yelling at him would make me feel better.”

Julie shifts so she’s sitting closer to him, “Did it?”

He shakes his head again. “Not really. I mean, I’m pissed – I’m _still_ pissed. But I think I’m too worried about Willie and this whole Caleb situation to be able to deal with that right now.” He pauses. “Julie, are you sure about this plan? This is a _huge_ gamble – it might not work.”

“It might not,” Julie agrees. “But I do think it’s the only chance we have. We’re two living teenagers and four dead ones,” she reminds him. “We can’t beat him head to head.”

“We might not be able to beat him at all,” Luke hesitates. “And this puts you and Flynn in danger too.”

“He already knows about me, Luke,” Julie presses lightly. “If this works, if we play our cards right…”

“Yeah.” Luke nods. “Just… promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I always am,” Julie promises. “Promise me you will too?”

Luke nods again. “Of course.”

Julie smiles over at him. “Alex and Reggie will find Willie and fill him in, and then we just need to wait for Trevor to be invited.” she says, sinking back into the couch. “We just need to trust that this will work.”

Luke swallows, returning her smile carefully. “Yeah. We’ve got this.”

Her smile widens, and she reaches over him to grab his notebook. “Show me those lyrics you were working on yesterday – we never got a chance to look at them.”

Luke chuckles, flipping open the book, grateful for the chance to lose himself in songwriting for at least a little while.

*

The beach is crowded when Reggie and Alex appear on the boardwalk, but they're silent as they walk, looking for any sign of Willie. After ten minutes of silent walking and no sign of him, Reggie finally speaks up.

"You're doing your silently anxious thing again."

Alex frowns, glancing over at him. "I don't have a silently anxious thing," he says.

"Yes, you do," Reggie knocks his shoulder into Alex's lightly. "Sometimes when it gets really bad you just... internalize it," he says, doing another cursory scan of the crowd. "Looks to me like you're doing that now."

Alex shakes his head. "I don't have time to—"

"No," Reggie cuts him off. "We have time. You can't do this, Alex, you can't let it build up like that."

Alex stops walking, turning to Reggie. "What am I supposed to do, break down in the middle of the boardwalk?" he laughs bitterly.

"No." Reggie shakes his head. "You're supposed to talk to me, or Luke, or Julie, or _someone_ so that you _don't_ break down suddenly." He reaches out, putting his hands on Alex's shoulders and squeezing. "Come on, man, you can't do this to yourself."

Alex is shaking lightly under his touch. "We have to find Willie and fill him in—"

"No," Reggie repeats. "Willie said he'd try to meet us here, he'll find us. You need to let this out."

Thankfully, that's all it takes.

"Every time he goes back to that club it gets worse," he says, and Reggie pulls him into a hug before he can protest. "Any time that he goes back could end up being the last time I see him, and—” Alex cuts off that sentence. "He's only in this mess because he met me."

"It is _not_ your fault," Reggie insists, rubbing Alex's back lightly. "This is Caleb's fault and no one else's."

"Willie was on Caleb's good side before he met me," Alex insists. "He wouldn't be in—"

"Caleb doesn't _have_ a good side."

Alex's head flies up, eyes falling on Willie standing behind them.

"Willie—"

Reggie lets go of Alex so he can shift over towards Willie, who pulls him into his own hug. "This is _not_ on you, Alex – Caleb is manipulative and controlling and the fact that I couldn't see it before doesn't make it anyone's fault but _his_."

"But he—"

Willie shakes his head. "This is _not your fault_ , Alex. I'm the one who sold him my soul and he's the one who took it in the first place. None of this is your fault." He pulls back from Alex to look him in the eyes. "I don't regret the choices I made, and I don't regret meeting you. Please don't blame yourself for this if it goes wrong."

"Willie..."

"Alex, I'm serious." Willie says. "No matter what happens over the next few days, it is _not_ your fault, and I don't want you blaming yourself. I do not regret meeting you – you’re the best thing that's happened to me in _years_."

He smiles a little at the involuntary flush in Alex's cheeks when he says that, and smiles, taking both of Alex's hands and squeezing tightly – but the tender moment is interrupted by Reggie softly clearing his throat.

"Sorry," Reggie squeaks when both of them turn to look at him. "I just wanted to let you know I'm going to head back. And in case Alex forgets to tell you, Willie, Bobby is in."

"Got it." Willie nods. "Thanks Reggie."

"Thanks, Reg," Alex breathes. "Seriously."

Reggie grins. "Any time, man, you know that." With that, he vanishes, leaving Alex and Willie alone on a crowded boardwalk.

"You have some time?" Alex asks, squeezing Willie's hands again.

"A little," Willie answers. "I need to get back before the show starts tonight if I'm going to tell Caleb about Trevor – but I'm good for an hour or so."

"Come on, if LA hasn't changed too drastically in 25 years, someone should be playing music nearby." Alex releases one of Willie's hands but keeps the other firmly in his grip, tugging him further down the boardwalk towards the pier. "Time for me to show you where I hung out when I was alive."

Willie smiles softly at that. "Let's do it."

*

"Caleb?" Willie hesitates as the older ghost steps out of his dressing room later that evening. After a really good hour at the pier with Alex, talking to Caleb is the last thing he wants to do, but it’s time for his only step in this dangerous, multi-step plan.

"William," Caleb greets, shooting Willie an unamused look. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing," Willie assures, steeling himself. "I'm not – I was wondering if you were still interested in new lifers for the club?"

Caleb raises an eyebrow, showing the tiniest bit of interest. "Always, did you have someone in mind?"

Willie nods, carefully. "I used to skate in Trevor Wilson's house," he says. "The man has this really epic staircase – plus the helipad—" he cuts off when he catches Caleb losing interest, and clears his throat. "Sorry – anyway, I forgot about it until the other day because I haven't been back in a while, but I remembered I saw him looking up information on ghosts and stuff last time I was there."

"And you didn't think to mention this before?" Caleb asks him.

Willie winces, feeling pain lance down his arm, and chokes out, "I'm sorry – I just forgot."

The pain eases, and Willie looks back up at Caleb. "How long ago was it that you saw this?"

"A few weeks, maybe?" Willie asks. Hesitating – this could absolutely make things worse – he adds, "It was right before I met Alex and the guys, so I... forgot about it."

Caleb stares him down, looking for any hint of a lie, but Willie stands his ground, and Caleb hums, nodding. "I see. Well – thank you for the information, William."

Willie nods, taking a step backwards towards the door.

"Trevor Wilson," Caleb mumbles to himself. "Dante – send him an invitation to tomorrow's show, will you?"

"Of course, sir." Dante nods, stepping away.

Willie nods. "I'll get out of your way," he says, stepping backwards again.

"Oh, William?" Caleb calls over.

Willie freezes. "Y-yeah, Caleb?"

"You will stay for the show tonight, won't you?" Caleb smiles over.

Willie swallows. "Yeah. Wouldn't miss it."

"Wonderful." Caleb smiles again, waving him off.

Willie ducks out of the room, relaxing as soon as he's out of Caleb's sight and breathing a careful sigh of relief. It worked.

*

Mr. Trevor Wilson,

You are cordially invited to join us at the exclusive, invitation-only Hollywood Ghost Club this Friday night.

Wondrous things await on the other side – wouldn’t you like to know more?

The event begins at 8PM. We hope to see you there.  
  
---  
  
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you actually get to find out the plan in the next chapter. Also, I didn't increase the chapter count this time, so that's a good sign?


	4. Chapter 4

On any other night, if someone's fate didn't literally hang in the balance, Trevor probably would have enjoyed the Hollywood Ghost Club. He can see the appeal – the glitz and glam and exclusivity of the place _is_ enticing – but the knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes sours it a bit.

But he can see why it’s popular, despite the massive membership cost.

“Mr. Wilson, it’s such a pleasure to have you with us,” a host greets him by the doorway. “If you’ll follow me, I can show you to your table.”

Trevor nods in his direction, steeling himself – he’s here for a reason and he has one job to accomplish before he leaves.

“Please feel free to mingle, the bar is back in that direction, and food will be served after the first performance,” his guide tells him once he’d been shown to a table near the side of the front part of the room, and then he disappears off into the crowd the way he came, leaving Trevor alone to decide what to do next – but he doesn’t get a chance.

“Trevor Wilson, is that you?” someone greets from behind him, and Trevor turns to find a woman he hasn’t seen in years – an old executive from his label who had worked with him on his third album and who he’d been rather friendly with in the years that followed – standing behind him with her hands on her hips and a grin on her face. “It _is_ – I see someone’s _finally_ brought you to the Ghost Club!”

“Yeah, seems that way,” Trevor greets. “Great to see you.”

“You as well!” She hugs him tightly. “Is this your first time?”

Trevor just shrugs with a small smile. “Mind showing me the ropes?”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’d be happy to,” she grins, and Trevor smiles in response – this might work out better than he’d expected.

*

Julie’s thoughts are scattered all over the place, keeping her awake. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees another potential bad outcome of her plan play out in front of her, sees the boys yelling in pain as another jolt passes through their bodies, and she second guesses herself. She's _fifteen_ – what deranged part of her mind thought she could trick a 100-year-old ghost?

She can only take those same thoughts on repeat for so long, and after almost two hours of them, she finally gives up on sleeping for the night. She creeps carefully downstairs to the kitchen to make a midnight snack, but her thoughts are still circling around her brain as she sits at the kitchen counter a few minutes later.

"Can’t sleep?"

Luke's voice pulls her out of her own head, and Julie glances up to see him standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the stairwell.

"Just nervous," she answers honestly, not even bothering with one of her terrible lies. "One way or another, this'll be over tomorrow."

Luke walks over, sitting down next to her at the counter and resting his hand next to hers. "One way would be significantly better than the other."

Julie laughs humorlessly, popping another cracker into her mouth. "What about you? Not sleeping?"

"Reggie is," Luke answers. "And I think Alex was able to worry himself to exhaustion, so he's asleep for now. I heard someone moving around down here and assumed it was you."

Julie offers him a small smile, and silence falls for a minute before Luke presses lightly, "Want to talk about it?"

Julie sighs. "I'm just worried. I know it's my plan and I'm supposed to be confident in it – and I _was_ – but..." She frowns, glancing over at Luke. "You've never liked this plan."

Luke winces. "I mean – I never liked _any_ plan that brought people this close to Caleb, it wasn't _your plan_ specifically."

"But you still went along with it." Julie swallows. "Would you have stopped me if you thought it wouldn't work?"

"I would have at least tried to," Luke answers. "Not sure I have any hope of stopping you when you're determined," he says lightly, and she can't help the small smile that coaxes out of her, but it falls quickly.

"Can you tell me, honestly, whether you think we have a chance tomorrow?" she asks.

Luke's quiet for a moment – and the pit in Julie's stomach grows a bit as she looks away from him and back down to the package of crackers she'd deemed a midnight snack – but he speaks up before she has a chance to say anything else. "I think we have a good enough shot that it's worth a try."

She glances over.

"I mean – you've thought this through, Julie. You've brought in Bobby, which I thought was a crazy idea, but you proved me wrong on that. And you won't be alone tomorrow," Luke assures her. "Yeah, it's dangerous, but..."

"You believe in the plan enough to risk it?" Julie guesses.

"I believe in _you_ enough to risk it," Luke corrects her, offering a half smile that she can’t help but return.

"I don't think you realize how amazing you are, Julie," Luke says, nudging her chair with his foot in lieu of nudging her directly. "You're doing all of this for a ghost you can't even see or interact with."

"I'm not _only_ doing this for Willie," Julie tries, but Luke just shoots her a look and she shuts her mouth, falling quiet for a beat before she speaks up again. "The best result of this plan gets him to back down. We're not winning."

"We don't need to win," Luke smiles. "What was it you said when you were convincing me and Bobby yesterday – Caleb's too proud to go down with us?"

"Oh, you do listen to me when I talk?" Julie teases, and Luke grins over at her. "Thanks, Luke," she says honestly, pressure in her chest easing a bit.

"Ready to try and sleep?" Luke asks lightly, "Or should we turn a movie on or something?"

"A movie sounds great, if you're up for it," Julie answers, and Luke just smiles at her.

"Sure, but I get to pick it out." He disappears, and a moment later, Julie can hear him rifling through their movie collection.

"We have a bunch more on streaming," she calls over quietly, very aware of the rest of her sleeping household.

"Then get over here and show me!" Luke calls back, and Julie laughs softly, putting away her midnight snack and heading over to help him.

*

It's close to 1AM when Trevor finally makes it back up the stairs towards the exit. He's tried three times, but each time someone else had pulled him back onto the dance floor, and he could hear Luke's voice in his head, warning him, _'Don't make it look too much like you want to leave early.'_

"Mr. Wilson," someone says from behind him, and Trevor barely stops himself from cursing, plastering a smile on his face and turning back to find Caleb Covington himself standing there, looking as nonchalant as he’d looked on stage. "I don't think we got a chance to chat tonight."

"I don't think we did," Trevor says. "Excellent show, by the way."

"Why, thank you, thank you. Leaving so soon?" Caleb asks, glancing at the door and then back to Trevor. "The party will be going for hours yet."

Trevor shoots him what he hopes looks like a regretful smile. "Unfortunately – I didn't realize how late the event would be going, and my daughter's expecting me."

"Ah, of course," Caleb says. "The things we do for family, right?"

Trevor just offers another smile. "I appreciate the invite, though – this place is really something."

Caleb's smile grows a bit at that. "Well, if you're interested in coming back, I'm sure we could scrounge up another invitation for next week – and maybe spend some time discussing a more permanent membership?"

Trevor manages to keep from shivering at the prospect of that. "Sounds great," he says instead. "I'll keep my calendar open."

"Wonderful." Caleb's smile morphs the tiniest bit into a smirk. "We'll see you next week then, Mr. Wilson."

"Please, call me Trevor," Trevor assures him. "See you next week."

Caleb smiles, nods, and vanishes before his eyes, and Trevor barely manages not to flinch – all night, ghosts have been teleporting in and out and Trevor _still_ isn’t used to it. Suppressing another shudder, he heads back towards the doors and tries not to look too eager as he finally exits the club.

*

The credits are rolling on the movie a couple hours later when Julie’s phone suddenly beeps, interrupting the music filtering quietly out of the TV speakers. She shifts up, pulling her phone out of her pocket and unlocking it quickly.

“Julie?” Luke glances over at her.

“It’s Trevor,” Julie breathes, a smile growing on her face. “Holy _shit_ , he did it.”

Luke scrambles closer, watching over her shoulder as she lets the video she’d been sent play without sound. “That means he got out, right?”

“He wouldn’t have sent it if he didn’t.” Julie grins. “Luke, he actually did it. It worked.”

Luke smiles back. “What’s next?”

“Next I forward this to Flynn and we back it up absolutely _everywhere_ we can think of,” Julie answers, quickly tapping to forward the email on. “And tomorrow we finally finish this and get Willie back.”

“Then you should probably get some sleep,” Luke urges her softly.

Julie bites her lip, nodding at him. “As soon as this is backed up, yeah.” She pauses, smiling a little at him. “Hey Luke? Thank you for tonight.”

“Yeah, of course.” Luke smiles back. “Any time.”

*

In retrospect, Willie should have protested the plan more at an earlier point, instead of moments before the final step when he's standing around the block from the Hollywood Ghost Club, wishing he had the guts to bail on Alex and his friends instead of _literally_ leading them into the one place he never wanted them to set foot in again.

But he doesn't. They're taking this risk for _him_ , to save _him_ , and while he doesn't exactly agree with them going to this much trouble, he's not going to put them at a greater risk by leaving them alone.

So he waits, as patiently as he can manage, until the bus that Julie said she'd be on pulls up and all four members of Julie and the Phantoms exit.

"I thought you said someone was staying behind with Flynn?" Willie greets, and when Alex goes to answer, he continues, "That's a question for Julie."

"Wow, okay." Alex laughs. "Julie, Willie wants to know why one of us didn't stay behind with Flynn."

"Because they're all _stubborn_ and couldn't agree on who was going to stay behind," Julie answers bluntly. "And when I decided for them, they got offended. So they're all here."

"We just want to make sure you're safe," Luke protests. "Caleb is _dangerous_."

"I'm not arguing there," Julie insists.

"Okay, okay," Willie cuts in, stopping whatever Luke was about to retort with. "You're all stubborn, I've got it." He takes Alex's hand, squeezing it. "Ready to go?"

Luke sighs, sticking close to Julie’s side. "I hate this part of the plan.”

"Agreed." Willie glances over. “Still time to back out.”

Luke shakes his head. “No, too late now.”

Alex squeezes Willie’s hand. “It’ll be okay.”

_I wish I shared your confidence_ , Willie doesn’t say, instead offering a small smile. “To the Hollywood Ghost Club we go, then.”

*

The backstage area of the Hollywood Ghost Club, typically a bustle of activity during a show, is deserted and quiet when they walk in a few minutes later, Willie glancing around nervously. "Caleb's dressing room is up there," he gestures. "No idea if he's in or not right now, but we can—"

"Well, what do we have here?" a voice interrupts from behind them.

Willie turns to find Caleb standing there, a calm look on his face as he appraises the four ghosts and one lifer standing in front of him. "You must all be particularly forgetful or particularly idiotic to come here."

"You must be Caleb," Julie says, voice impressively even.

"And you must be _Julie_ ," Caleb smirks a bit. "I've heard a lot about you."

“I'm sure." Julie brushes that off, and Willie can see something cold creep into Caleb's eyes.

"Well then," Caleb says, turning to face Willie. "Care to explain yourself, William, or should we just get on with it?"

Willie steps in front of Alex, and distantly, he hears Julie mumble, "Willie?" and realizes that Caleb has made him visible – which can only be a bad sign.

And then his entire arm is on fire as the shock-collar stamp on his wrist glows a sickening purple. He shouts in surprise, leaning into Alex, who pales and tugs him close.

“Willie—"

“Stop it!” Julie shouts, turning back to Caleb.

“And why should I?” Caleb all but rolls his eyes.

Julie lifts her phone a little, pressing the play button on the video she’d pulled up.

_“And you know, there’s the whole… soul owning thing, of course,_ ” A woman’s voice filters out of the phone speakers, and Caleb freezes, falling silent and turning to stare at the tiny screen. “ _A little bit of a weird payment, but this place is magnificent.”_

_“Soul owning?”_ Trevor’s voice asks.

_“Of course – the membership fee for the Hollywood Ghost Club is your soul. You haven’t heard that part of the pitch yet?”_

The pain in Willie’s arm lessens slightly as Julie pauses the video, staring Caleb down.

“What have you done?” Caleb demands.

“Nothing – yet.” Julie says carefully. “And we won’t do anything if you release Willie’s soul and let us walk out of here – and promise to never bother us _ever_ again. But if you don’t, that video, and the rest of the information we’ve gathered and compiled, is going online. Sure would be a shame if lifers _knew_ what they were getting into when they walked through your doors, wouldn’t it? If you couldn’t charm them.” Julie stands her ground, staring Caleb down as she continues. “We have several _very telling_ interviews with patrons here – and we are not afraid to release them.”

“And what makes you think anyone will believe your little story?” Caleb asks, shaking his head at them. “A teenage girl claims that a person who doesn’t exist is buying the souls of rich lifers in exchange for membership to a club that doesn’t exist. Hmm, so believable.”

“They won’t believe me,” Julie agrees. “But they’ll believe Trevor Wilson.”

Caleb pauses at that, eyes flicking over to Willie, who shouts in pain again, leaning further into Alex.

“Stop it!” Julie demands. “All it takes is one button press, Caleb, to make this video public.”

“I could stop you from walking out of here,” Caleb says, but the pain in Willie’s arm stops anyway.

“We’re not the only ones with the video. If we don’t leave, Trevor calls a reporter.”

“And if I take care of _Trevor_ next?”

“It’s already online, Caleb. Nothing comes off of the internet. All it takes is for one person to look on the extremely high profile celebrity’s computer and they’ll find it. You harm _any of us_ and it goes public, and your little club stops getting new members.”

Caleb shifts, stepping closer to Julie, but she just lifts her phone challengingly. “It’s mutually assured destruction, Caleb, and I don’t think you’re _willing_ to go down with us.”

When Caleb stops, but doesn’t say anything, she continues.

“Give Willie his soul back and let us walk out of here. Leave us _alone_ and this video will never see the light of day.”

There’s a beat, a moment of silence in which neither Julie nor Caleb moves, staring each other down, each _daring_ the other to shift or blink or show the slightest bit of weakness.

And then suddenly the stamp is dissipating from Willie’s wrist as Caleb hisses, “You are not _worth_ this much trouble,” and the pressure in Willie’s chest – a pressure he wasn’t even really aware of that was weighing him down like iron shackles – is gone. “Get out of my club before I change my mind.”

With that, Caleb vanishes, and the five teenagers do not hesitate in doing what he says.

*

They’re all silent until they’ve rounded the corner away from the hotel, put some distance between themselves and Caleb, and then suddenly all of Julie’s adrenaline rushes out of her and her legs give out. She sinks to the sidewalk, clutching her phone to her chest like a lifeline.

“Julie!” Luke startles, shifting down in front of her. “Are you okay?”

“Did we just… _do_ that?” Julie breathes, looking up at him. “Did we just pull that off?”

A grin grows on Luke’s face and he nods. “I mean – _you_ did.”

Julie exhales sharply, looking down at her phone and breathing, “Holy shit.”

Reggie laughs. “Julie, you were a _badass._ ”

Julie laughs breathlessly at that, shifting back up onto her feet and glancing at Alex. “Is Willie still here? Is he okay?”

Alex raises his hand, and while Julie can’t see the hand it’s linked with, she can tell he’s holding _someone’s_. “He’s here. He says he feels better than he has in a long time.”

Julie smiles at that. “I’m really glad.”

Alex smiles back. “Julie, seriously – thank you.”

Julie shakes her head. “This was a team effort – and we’ve only won one round. I don’t believe for a _moment_ that he’s gone for good.”

“But we won this round,” Luke says, grinning at them. “ _You_ won this round.”

Julie smiles, but shakes her head at him. “Team effort,” she repeats. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

*

Alex and Willie wait until Julie is home, settled, and definitely safe with the two other ghosts watching over her before they disappear to talk. Willie grabs Alex’s hand and teleports them both away, to a house that Alex doesn’t recognize, and plops onto the tiles of the roof as easily as sitting on a bench.

Noticing Alex distinctly _not_ sitting, he chuckles. “It’s not like a fall will kill you, hot dog.”

Alex can’t help but smile a little at that, easing himself down next to Willie. “Where are we?”

Willie shrugs, looking down at the house beneath them. “My parents used to live here,” he says. “They don’t, anymore – they’re both long gone – but it’s still a little nostalgic. Figured it was a safe place to talk, though, I never mentioned it to Caleb.”

Alex nods, looking over at Willie and taking his hand again, squeezing it. “And you – your soul… you’re definitely free from him?”

“I haven’t felt this free in years,” Willie says, grinning over at Alex. “He definitely released me.”

The tension in Alex’s shoulders loosens a bit at that and he beams back, squeezing Willie’s hand again as they fall into companionable silence, watching the sun start to dip below the horizon in the distance.

“Why would you risk so much for me?” Willie finally asks after a few moments, dragging his gaze from the sunset to look at the now-frowning Alex.

“Why?” Alex asks, confusion setting in. “Why _wouldn’t_ we?”

When Willie doesn’t smile, Alex presses forward. “Willie, you’re – you risked _everything_ to save us, why would you think we wouldn’t do the _exact same thing_ for you?”

“Caleb is dangerous, and now you’ve – _we’ve_ – pissed him off,” Willie says carefully. “If you didn’t already have a target on your back, you do now – blackmailing him won’t work forever.”

“We know that,” Alex insists. “We _knew_ that going into this. It’s not a perfect solution, it’s not even a _good_ solution, but Willie—” he cuts off, shifting on the roof so he’s facing Willie fully and grabbing his other hand so he can squeeze both of them. “You’re…” he hesitates, but speaks anyway. “You’re important to me, Willie. And you are _absolutely_ worth the risk. No matter what Caleb tries to throw at us next, getting you out of his clutches was _worth it_.”

There’s a brief pause where neither of them speaks, sitting still with their hands held tightly in each other’s grip. And then Willie is moving, tugging Alex in close and pressing their lips together.

When they part, a moment later, he speaks softly. “Sorry, I – we haven’t really… talked about this.”

A smile spreads on Alex’s face. “I didn’t think I was that subtle,” he says, lifting their joined hands slightly.

Willie smiles at that. “Let’s be real, I wasn’t subtle either.”

Alex just laughs, the anxiety of the last few days finally settling down and mostly fading out as he lets go of Willie’s hands to pull him in close and kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done!!! Thank you all so much for reading this oneshot turned four chapter fic that was all just to bring Willie into touch-starved. 
> 
> Major major _major_ thank you to beeawolf and eriyu for all of their help and editing and dealing with me whining about the process of stringing words together throughout this.
> 
> Oneshots might slow down a bit coming up, just because work is picking up and November is historically a really busy month for me but I'll be around and hopefully I'll be able to knock out a couple of these half-written oneshots at some point soon.


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